Aussie players head for India to play in IPL

Sydney, Mar 3 (ANI): More Australian players are likely to follow Brett Lee, Damien Martyn and Shane Warne who are en route to play in the Indian Premier League as security tensions ease.

Tim May, the president of the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), said the unions were now in possession of far more substantial information regarding security.

"This is a significant step forward. The more information you provide the players with, the greater the likelihood that they will attend the event," May told BBC Sport.

"We have a significant amount of information we did not have previously, which will assist players making far more informed decisions about whether to go or not," he said.

"We haven't reached utopia yet, but the new information has given us greater confidence. Last week we were operating in an information vacuum,' May added.

The threat against players had come from the "313 Brigade" offshoot of Al-Qaeda, but independent security consultant Reg Dickason has now deemed it to be not credible, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Dickason is presently working alongside the England team in Bangladesh.

Ian Smith, the legal director of the English union, said the situation had improved markedly, though he was critical of IPL chief Lalit Modi.

"The situation is a hell of a lot better than it was a week ago. I am cautiously optimistic that we can reach a point before the start of the tournament where Reg can say it is safe enough to ravel," he said. (ANI)